The Great Cycle of the Beautiful Game.

[Doc Sark]

Over time, England has witnessed some truly great footballing forces. From the dominant Liverpool sides of the 70's and 80's, to the unbeatable Arsenal side of last season and it seems to be that football operates in a cycle, one that sees the balance of power shifting every decade or so. Once again we are witnessing a change in the balance of power. Since winning the treble in 1999, Manchester United's stranglehold on English football has weakened allowing Arsenal in particular to challenge them for the honourable accolade of being England's best football team. But as the Arsenal team of the early nineties found, after they dislodged Liverpool from the summit of English football in 1989, success is a slippery character and there are other teams waiting to pick up the pieces of a shattered attempt at footballing supremacy. Then it was Manchester United, now it is Chelsea.

I would exhibit no surprise if Chelsea won all four competitions they are in this season. As much as I hate to say it, they probably will beat Liverpool in the final of the Carling Cup. Cue Manchester United fans from Surrey to Singapore repeating their mantra (last heard in March 2002), "The Carling Cup means nothing to us....", a common misconception amongst beaten Carling Cup participants, but it doesn't hide the fact that they were outplayed and outwitted by their London rivals. Chelsea just had too much for them, and that's 3-0 to Jose Mourihno over Alex Ferguson, who as yet, has not found a way to defeat the Portuguese maestro.

With all the money and all the talent Chelsea have at their disposal, their success this season should be emulated for a number of seasons to come. It's too early to say whether Chelsea will become the new dominant force in English football for years to come, but at the moment they are the best team in England by quite a distance with the potential to write themselves in to the annals of football history by dominating English football for the next ten years. I understand this is a hard pill to swallow for Manchester United fans in particular but certainly for now, it is difficult to deny.

[Cz]

If Chelsea do enjoy continued success it'll be bad for the English game as a whole. Most teams have enough trouble keeping up with the 'big three' as it is. Can you imagine how repetitive each season would become if Chelsea moved up on to an even higher level than Arsenal and Man. Utd? At least when Man. Utd were dominant they had some possible competition, but if Chelsea continue playing as they are (or perhaps even improve) then we'll reach a stage where they're winning everything, like Michael Schumacher in Formula One racing.

This is just sore losing coming from an Arsenal fan, I know, but the above scenario isn't too unlikely in actual fact. All of the dominant teams you mentioned fell because other teams upped their game and became serious challengers, but could this happen to Chelsea? Is it really possible to challenge £5 billion with sheer grit and determination? Fairytale upsets don't apply here, it simply cannot be done, and it's a sad reminder of just how important a team's finances are to their success in today's environment.

[Doc Sark]

The only real answer for other teams, is to find their own Abramovic. On a smaller scale we have seen how teams with money are more likely to succeed. Fulham with Al Fayed, Cardiff with Sam Hamman and Portsmouth with Milan Mandaric, have all shown that success can be "bought" to a certain extent. But when someone comes in with £5 billion, it eclipses everyone elses wealth far beyond comprehension.

I agree with you, it is a worry, but I doubt it will be long until English football welcomes another billionaire to its shores that will have the spending power Chlesea have now. Of course nothing lasts forever. My big worry is for Chelsea actually. What happens when Abramovic becomes bored and pulls his money out of Chelsea football club?

[NM]

I don't think Chelsea will get ahead of the other big spending teams. Abramovic may have £5 Billion in the bank, but Chelsea is just another business venture at the end of the day. Anyone with any sense won't go throwing money endlessly at something if they arn't getting anything in return.

[lord shishio]

America!
America!
..............ah.............. raise....your...flags?

I don't even know my own countries song

Or what you are talking about. I've never been to England, so you may as well pretend I never responded.

[Doc Sark]

We probably will don't worry.

We are talking about football. You might have heard of it, its the most popular game in the world, involves a round ball, 2 goals and 22 players. You should check it out sometime.

[tomamar04]

It's better than America's wimpy excuses for sport!

Anyways, I can't wait until Abramovich gets 'bored' of owning Chelsea, he'll move to Spain or Italy, buy a big but not gigantic club (like Mallorca, Lazio etc.) and turn them into the worlds 'greatest team'. He'll leave Chelsea in massive debt. Can you imagine having to pay the salary of their sqaud!!!

[Skogs]

If I wee a millionaire, I'd try to take some obscure conference team and buy their way into the Premiership. And if I were in charge of the FA, I'd implement AFL-style rules, in which there is a salary cap and a draft system so that teams that finish near the bottom get first pick.

[NM]

What your talking about is franchise football. Which I don't think would work for a second or would want to see happen.

[Doc Sark]

I don't think rewarding teams for their failure to do well with giving them first pick in a draft is the answer. I am a big fan of the transfer system and wouldn't like to see it replaced.

A salary cap however. That could be interesting though putting it in place in the first place would be a nightmare because of the astronomical wages of some British based players. If you put a £99,000 per week salary cap on then its almost not worth having as only the very "best" players are being paid it anyway.

[Shoden]

i agree but there are other teams showing signs of improvement to get to the next level such as Liverpool, Newcastle, Blackburn and Middlesbrough. even though Newcastle lost 1-0 to Arsenal Shay Given made some remarkable unbelieveable saves even a shot from Henry there was the time when Bellamy Kluivert and Shearer made no escape for the ball like the time earlier this season when they beat that crap team 4-1 and when they beat Crystal Palace 2-0 who it hink are just too damn lucky.

Chelsea is a disgrace less than 25% of the team are actually British thet are racists and competitive. anyway Manchester United seem to be ready for another comeback along with Arsenal and Everton. if Souness leaves then Newcatle will join the top teams once again

[JunotDe]

I Like how all of EPL's best players arn't even English

(SPOILER)I like how im just playin but ALOT of them are

[NM]

So what about, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, John Terry, Wayne Rooney, Ashley Cole, Sol Campbell, Jermaine Defoe, Paul Robinson, Shaun Wright-Phillip's, should I go on?

[tomamar04]

How can you forget Neville, Ferdinand, Downing, Scholes and King?

Anyways there are more world class English players in England than world class Spanish players in Spain and world class Italian players in Italy etc.

[NM]

Note the "should I go on?" statement.

Anyway this thread's about the fall and rise of dominant teams in the English game. If you want to start a thread about all the quality English players in the Premiership, JunotDe, i'm sure we can type you out a nice big list.